Our Story

Harvington is famed for its many priest hides and large collection of wall paintings, but its origins go back much further than the Tudor era.

There is now suggestion that Harvington could be a bronze age site, with finds found locally and the lidar map showing a perfect circle encompassing the Hall and its 13th Century moat.

The moat being quarried out c1270, we believe a medieval H shaped Hall first sat on the island. Amazingly part of that Medieval structure still stands to this day and forms the center block, although encased behind a layer of brick.

The history of Harvington is steeped in the stories of those who lived in it. Adam de Herywnton (Harvington) lived here, and almost certainly died here in March 1344. Upon his death, the estate passed into the hands of the Earls of Warwick and in 1529 was sold to a wealthy lawyer, Sir John Pakington. For those wondering about Pakington, we have documentation to say that he was provided with a special grant by Henry VIII, permitting him to wear his hat in the King's presence!

It wasn’t until Sir John’s great-nephew, Humphrey Pakington, inherited the estate in 1578 that the Elizabethan Manor we know and love today came into being.
Despite its impressive scale, Harvington is currently only half its original size as two additional wings were demolished c1700. Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly why this happened, but we do know that in 1595 the Hall was described as ‘Humphrey’s Mansion House of Harvington’.

Being Catholic, Humphrey was subject to the harsh penal laws of the Elizabethan age. Humphrey was a recusant, meaning he refused to attend the Church of England service on Sundays, a refusal that initially cost 12p a week but increased to £20 a month (equating to thousands today). From 1585 it was illegal for a Catholic priest to step foot in England, making it necessary for Humphrey to equip Harvington with impressive priest holes.

As she outlived her son and grandson, upon Mary’s death the Hall was inherited by her granddaughter, another Mary Yate. Mary was married to Sir Robert Throckmorton of Coughton Court in Warwickshire. He had very little use for Harvington so two wings were demolished, and in the 19th and early 20th centuries most of the furnishings were stripped, leaving Harvington in a bare and dilapidated state.

With only two generations of gentry living at Harvington, the house was run in a stripped- back style, before being restored thanks to the generosity of a new owner. In 1923, a Catholic lady named Mrs Ellen Ryan Ferris purchased the Hall and gifted it to the Archdiocese of Birmingham, who still own the hall today.

Thanks to the generosity of Mrs Ellen Ferris and the enlightened patronage of an Archbishop in the 1930s, Harvington was not lost.

Thanks to the generosity of Mrs Ellen Ferris and the enlightened patronage of an Archbishop in the 1930s, Harvington was not lost.

During the reign of Elizabeth I, wealthy Catholics had to come up with ingenious ways of keeping priests safe from the priest hunters, a group of men often led by the local Justice of the peace with a signed warrant allowing them to search the house for any fugitives.  
Priest hides, more commonly known as priest holes, were secret hiding places built within the house for a priest to hide, sometimes for over a week! Conditions would be cramped, cold and dark. As you explore Harvington Hall, imagine the terrifying sounds of the priest hunters pulling up floorboards and stripping back panelling. Imagine how the priests would have felt knowing that when the house fell silent, the priest hunters were waiting to hear any sound. It was a real-life game of hide-and-seek, often with harrowing consequences.  

Harvington has the country’s finest collection of hides, seven in total. Some are basic in design, others are some of the most ingenious in the country. 

The hides situated around the Great Staircase c.1603 show all the trademarks of master hides builder Nicholas Owen, who was at work from 1588 until his own capture and death in the Tower of London in 1606. 

Owen was a servant to Fr Henry Garnet, the Jesuit superior in England, who during the 1590s built up a network of safe houses throughout the country to which incoming priests could be directed and find disguises, chapels and priest holes. 

Yes, you read correctly: “bread oven”! 

Above the bread oven in the kitchen, within the chimney stack, is one of Harvington’s earliest hides – probably dating to the early 1590s. It is not known if the oven was installed after the hide, but what is noticeable is that an extra layer of earth has been put in the hide so that any priest would not be burnt alive. Even so, the hide is cripplingly small at 5ft deep 2ft 7in by 3ft 9in. It is entered via a trapdoor in the privy off the South Room above, but was obsolete by the end of the 16h-century.

Harvington Hall,
Harvington Hall Lane,
Harvington,
Kidderminster,
DY10 4LR

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